First stage human clinical trial (CTR20150246) for HAO472, the L-alanine-(14-oridonin)
ester trifluoroacetate, was conducted by a Chinese company, Hengrui Medicine Co. Ltd, to develop
a new treatment for acute myelogenous leukemia. Two patents, WO2015180549A1 and
CN201410047904.X, covered the development of the I-type crystal, stability experiment, conversion
rate research, bioavailability experiment, safety assessment, and solubility study. HAO472 hewed out
new avenues to explore the therapeutic properties of oridonin derivatives and develop promising
treatment of cancer originated from naturally derived drug candidates. Herein, we sought to overview
recent progress of the synthetic, physiological, and pharmacological investigations of oridonin and its
derivatives, aiming to disclose the therapeutic potentials and broaden the platform for the discovery of
new anticancer drugs.